Recuperative Care Programs Provide Safe Haven For Homeless Recovering From Illnesses
The centers offer beds for patients who have nowhere to go following their treatments.
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While recuperative care—bringing in homeless who are sick but have nowhere to recover—has been around for a while, this program has an expanded reach because the center is conveniently situated at the hospital, said Dr. Mark Ghaly, deputy director of community health for L.A. County's health services department. "It changes the type of client you can accept at the facility," he said. "We're able to take a client with more immediate clinical needs." The county has been slowly expanding its use of recuperative care since Dr. Mitch Katz, who directs the county's health agency, came to L.A. in 2011. Now, there are about 200 such beds in L.A., adding an important piece to the continuum of care for a homeless population that's getting older and sicker each year, Ghaly said. But as recuperative care expands, it is still difficult to find permanent homes for patients once they're healthy. (Palta, 2/8)